Shoplifting Mistake or What Every Shoplifter Says

Last month I became an inadvertent shoplifter. It was truly a shoplifting mistake. I am not just saying it. Really I did not mean to shop lift! I mistakenly shoplifted from a charity shop run by Nuns. Before everyone reading this condemns me to hell let me explain.

This charity shop is truly a charity shop. Volunteers run it. Many of the volunteers are retired Nuns. The shop is only open 3 days a week and only for 4 hours each day. The retail part of the shop is not as big as the donation/sorting part of the building. Since it is all volunteer, donations get backed up before they hit the retail floor. This makes for a great shopping experience because new items come out all the time.

Unfortunately the shop was having a high theft problem from their dressing room. To help stop this they took out their dressing room because people were putting on layers of clothing then their coats and walking out of the store without paying.

The charity shop prices their clothes very inexpensively. $2.00 for a top/skirt/pant, $4.00 for a dress, $6.00 for a coat. With those prices and the nature of the shop I find it despicable that people were shoplifting! These pictures are from the shop.

That said here is my story. I tried on a T-shirt over my shirt. It was cold and rainy outside. I pulled on my raincoat. I was through shopping, buying 4 items and chatted with the retired nun commanding the cash register. After I got home I took my coat off and looked down to see I was wearing not one but 2 shirts! Yes I shoplifted a $2.00 T-shirt!

I took the tag off and pinned my 2 dollars to it. The next week when the charity shop was open I made my confession and paid them. Much to my surprise they were delighted and not one disparaging word was uttered.

The Nuns shared that even with out a dressing room they still have problems with theft. I am not even Catholic but I was worried over bad luck or bad karma until I fessed and paid up!

Author: Haralee Weintraub

I am an experienced traveler, breast cancer survivor and entrepreneur. My company Haralee.Com sleepwear makes beautiful sleepwear for women who have night sweats and or travel. In this blog I muse about life and hope you will comment and join the conversation!

26 Comments

I did that once at a Hamrick’s store. I was paying for my things while holding two pair of pj pants for my son-in-law. I paid for my things and walked right out and didn’t realize it until later when I was going over my receipt marking things off of my Christmas list. I called the store and explained what happened since it was an hour away and the manager laughed and told me not to worry about it. I was caught shoplifting when I was 12 by my dad who called the police (a good friend of his) who put the scare of my life into me. I’ve always been very careful who I go into stores with and what I do…until the unfortunate pj experience!

Too funny – just yesterday, I was in a small local charity shop. Bought a few items and handed the volunteer a $20 and said, “Just give me $10” when she said [I thought] “Your change is $11.20”
Walked to the car, checked my receipt…nope, she’d asked me to PAY $11.20! Ran back in the shop, neither clerk was clear on my explanation/apology. I said “I owe you $1.20” and handed them $5 and told them to keep it.
Best part? Someone I know was next in line to pay. She promised that she’s going to tell EVERYONE that I tried to cheat a charity shop!

Hey Haralee! I would never have guessed this side of you 🙂 And of ALL places to shop lift! I can just imagine all those nuns staring you down and you STILL walked out wearing an extra shirt. Good for you for facing your karma directly and heading back to the store to “confess.” This is a story you will be telling for years to come. ~Kathy

It is a story that my family is delighting in already you are right about that Kathy. Years ago we use to camp, 3 families for 2-3 days every summer for about 15 years. We all took turns making a breakfast and dinner for the group. In cleaning up and packing I inadvertently took some of one of our friend’s stainless steel . Now we don’t camp but we do Thanksgiving, 4th of July and Labor day together each bringing a dish. I still hear from him about my what he calls ‘sticky fingers’. When we are hosting he always gets a laugh from everyone when some pan or dish of mine he will say, “I have one just like this”! Thanks for your comments.

Oh gosh! I don’t think I’ve ever accidentally shoplifted, closest was that I walked into a fair without paying for a ticket – somehow I was confused about where you were supposed to pay and walked right through the gate. Nobody stopped me (I guess I was exuding enough of an “I’m supposed to be here” air, not an “I’m sneaking in” air) and when I realized what I’d done I had a moment of feeling guilty, but, er, not guilty enough to go back and pay!

I’m concerned that I’m in cahoots with a known felon – next I’ll be baking you a cake with a file in it for when your in the OC jail. Hopefully your confession will keep you in good stead with the heavenly powers and all will be well. Let me know if I need to get my recipe book out and what type of cake you like 🙂

If it was a Goodwill or Salvation Army, a big chain charity shop I still would have returned with money and fessed up do doubt, but… This small charity shop and all the Nun figurines and run by retired Nuns, I am truly remorseful. Thank goodness they were understanding. Thanks Cathy for your comments.

Oh my, yes, and it was just this past Saturday! I was wondering what to write tomorrow and guess what…I’ll even link to you because “At least I didn’t accidentally shoplift from a charity shop run by nuns” should be one of my best opening lines ever. Now, I’m wondering if I should also tell my readers the story about the strawberries…..

I cannot imagine how you felt when you realized what you had done. Of course you did the right thing and I know the nuns appreciated how you must have felt. Trying not to laugh but as shoplifting goes, it really is a funny story.

Thanks Karen. Since I have told my family about it you know I keep getting comments like, “Can you pick up some trash bags but be sure to pay because Costco prosecutes”, or “Are those new sneakers? You paid right?”, “Do they follow you around the store now?”. Oh it goes on! I appreciate your comments.

Thanks Diane for relating to my uh situation. Yes completely out the door and home before any bells went off. You see in movies and on TV how people in the story line get a rush from stealing? Not so much for me, it was total remorse! I appreciate your comments.

So this happened to me I think two times when the child was little, refusing to sleep, I was bleary leery, and would realize after pushing my grocery cart or something like that out into the parking lot I had accidentally absconded with an item
Because I’m such a rule follower I would always get nervous as I wiheeled back in to apologize.

Good for you to not take off. Now we know why Costco checks your cart as you leave! A friend in the similar situation walked out with a vacuum cleaner in a box on the bottom of her cart and swears she doesn’t remember how it got there. She thinks she walked out with someone else’s cart and she is sticking to that story!

I am a world traveler, breast cancer survivor and entrepreneur. My company Haralee.Com sleepwear makes beautiful sleepwear for women who have night sweats and or travel. In this blog I muse about life and hope you will comment and join the conversation!